'99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.

Has anyone ever used a coolant addative (surfactant) such as water wetter in their radiator. It is suppose to increase the cooling ability of the radiator due to the water sticking more to the inside of the dasiator and not just simply running off of the metal. Kind of likt Dawn dish soap on a plate. It allows the water to stick and not just sheet off. I have used it in Motocross bikes and just wondered if the application would be good for diesel engines that have a hot running condition. Thanks

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It's hard to keep them cooled down when towing or other. Just generally running hot.

Scott

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The turbo will heat up when towing and if you have a chip then YES you can and will run the turbo to a too hot situation. But the coolant running hot???? I had a hose come off and was dumping lots of coolant. I had people honking at me to notice all the water coming out of the engine compartment. I drove it to the dealer and even dumping all that coolant, it never ran hot.

I wouldn't recommend the Water Wetter. It contains detergents and anti-foamers that your coolant really doesn't need. These things can also work against what's already in the formulation of your existing coolant, possibly even removing some of the cavitation inhibitor. A good robust coolant made for diesels is all you need. And if it's silicate-free and free of inorganic materials, you'll be getting the best heat transfer. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I understand. This was just a general question about using it in a diesel, not specifically a PSD. I have a Mack Dump Truck that will not quit overheating. We have done all we know to do so the Water Wetter was just a thought. I have used in in my sons and my 2 stroke racing bikes with super results. I was hoping someone had tried it in a big motor. Thanks for all the input.

I too have used Redline Water Wetter in my MX quad. Had great results. Used it in my other gas trucks but not my PSD. I never had a overheating concerns. Redline does make a great 2-stroke oil, always ran it at 60to1 ratio and always had good tolerences when I re-ringed it halfway through the season.

Seriously, though, Water Wetter and its similar competitors from Royal Purple and others are the Slick 50s of cooling system additives.

They're basically surfactants (along the line of dishwasher detergent) along with a smidgen of anti-foaming agent and a few anti-corrosion additives. All of which are already present in commercially-available coolants.

Some racing sanctioning bodies require the use of plain water (no glycol) to prevent slick track conditions in the event of a spill. Glycol is slicker than oil on a track surface and harder to clean up. In that specific circumstance, I would consider the use of Water Wetter for the corrosion inhibitors only -- but all the testing I've ever been involved with with the stuff showed trivial temperature changes under controlled testing conditions. By "trivial", I mean lost in the experimental noise.

If you have a vehicle that's running high coolant temps, you need to diagnose *why* and fix the problem, not slap a band-aid on it.

Possible reasons (not all-inclusive):

- modified engine makes more power and thus more heat than originally specified

Of course, you first have to determine *if* it's really overheating. Lots of people get all panicky when temperatures go over 200F, but there's really no reason to do so. 50/50 ethylene glycol coolant and water mixture boils at 224F at atmospheric pressure, and you add 3F to that for each PSI above atmospheric, so a typical 16 psi cap yields a boiling point of 264F.

That said, most diesels don't like to run up past 230F coolant temp on a regular basis, but the real reason for that in most modern diesels is an effort to keep NOx emissions down (and, in some cases, prevent piston scuff that would be caused by insufficient allowance for thermal expansion at higher temperatures).

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I didn't mean to imply that you were that bad Jim, just that something like this [ QUOTE ]
Seriously, though, Water Wetter and its similar competitors from Royal Purple and others are the Slick 50s of cooling system additives.

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would be the first thing you said. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/phoney.gif[/img]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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